Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
220 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
220
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1053 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,053
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4394 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,394
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
185 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
185
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
10575 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
10,575
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
340 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
340
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
962 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
962
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
226 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
226
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
888 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
888
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3350 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,350
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
221 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
221
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
110 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
110
About 7 hours 20 minutes
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Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3561 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,561
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
892 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
892
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
369 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
369
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2413 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,413
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1713 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,713
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2094 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,094
45 minutes
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Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
89 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
89
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
1980 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,980
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2272 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,272
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1406 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,406
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
241 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
241
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
964 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
964
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1063 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,063
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1818 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,818
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2280 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,280
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2114 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,114
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
497 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
497
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1774 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,774
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
715 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
715
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3415 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,415
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
559 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
559
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
292 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
292
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1349 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,349
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2241 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,241
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
633 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
633
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1897 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,897
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4265 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,265
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
334 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
334
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
458 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
458
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
4903 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,903
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
866 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
866
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
467 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
467
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
680 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
680
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
552 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
552
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
780 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
780
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1246 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,246
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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